USA > Michigan > Allegan County > A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan > Part 63
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
tion. Located as it is but a half mile from the village of Martin, it is a most convenient homestead. Mr. Martin has devoted his entire life to the farm and carries on a general line of agriculture, although he has paid consider- able attention to wheat raising and the feeding of live stock.
Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, both of whom are dead. William died at the age of three years, while the eldest, John, reached manhood and middle age, when he met with a tragic death, at the age of forty-two. While spearing fish on a lake in company with Mack Campbell in the spring of 1905 a storm suddenly arose and before they could reach shore John was struck by lightning and instantly killed. He was married and had lived upon a farm adjoining that of his father, and their entire lives had been passed in such close proximity to each other that his loss is all the more keenly felt.
As this son, John, left no children, and as neither of Mr. Matthews' brothers have any living children, it will be seen that this branch of the Matthews family dies out with our subject. Mr. Matthews still carries on his farm, although he finds time for innocent and healthful pleasures. He generally keeps a fine pair of drivers and thoroughly enjoys his outings with these. He is also an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and his outdoor life appeals to him greatly. In politics he is a Republican and he has always been active in party work and deliberations. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Martin.
VALLEY TOWNSHIP.
WILLIAM HENRY ELY is the owner of a fine dairy farm, beautifully located on the Kalamazoo river, commanding a fine view of the stream and the surrounding country. It is situated in Valley township and is one of the attractive farms of Allegan county. Mr. Ely was born in Jefferson county, New York, January 27, 1842, his parents being Henry and Harriet (Terry) Ely, who were born, reared and married in Buckinghamshire, England. In 1832 they crossed the Atlantic to America. The father was a brick- layer and mason and worked at his trade for many years in Jefferson county, New York.
The son, William H. Ely, supplemented his early education, acquired in the common schools of the Empire state, by study in Carthage Academy at Carthage, New York, and also at Union Academy, Belleville, New York. In response to the first call of President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand troops to serve for three months in crushing out the rebellion in the south, Mr. Ely enlisted, becoming a member of Company E, Twenty-fourth New York Infantry. The regiment, however, was mustered in for two years instead of three months as was expected and thus he remained at the front for that time. The Twenty-fourth New York was attached to the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac and did service under Generals Mc- Clellan and McDowell, being largely in Virginia to guard Washington. Mr. Ely participated in the second battle of Bull Run and was with his com- mand mainly at Alexandria. Fredericksburg, Culpeper and in the Shenan- doah Valley. In the second battle of Bull Run he was wounded by a musket ball in the left thigh and fell into the hands of the rebels, but was paroled on the field. He was then sent to a hospital at Washington and afterward
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to Philadelphia, but was released in time to be mustered out with the regi- ment. He then entered the quartermaster's department in Washington and was stationed at Morehead City, North Carolina, remaining in the employ of the government until the close of the war. Much of his work was to draw and reissue rations.
Returning to New York when the war was over, Mr. Ely taught school for two years, and was then engaged in business for a number of years and was married in Ellisburg, that state, in October, 1873. In the mean- time, however, he had visited various states, also points in Canada, Mexico and South America. In the fall of 1872 he purchased his present farm in Valley township, Allegan county, Michigan, and further completed his ar- rangements for having a home of his own by his marriage in October, 1873. to Miss Mary Antoinette Salisbury, of New York. The land which he had purchased lay along the Kalamazoo river and was all covered with forest trees. Upon this place he built a house of concrete, it being the first con- crete farm house in the county, and has since resided here, developing a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He now has eighty acres un- der cultivation, the place being used largely as a dairy farm. He finds a ready sale for his product and at one time sold considerable milk in Allegan. His residence is about five miles below Allegan on the farm on the Kala- mazoo river and is a very suitable resort location, commanding a fine view of the river and the surrounding country.
Mr. and Mrs. Ely lost their two children, but have an adopted daughter. Elva B. Ely, who came to them when two years old and is now a young lady. She is still a member of the family and is at the present time occupy- ing a position in the abstract office in Allegan. In 1900 Mr. Ely was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in that year. Two years later he was married to Nellie Ingham, a daughter of Giles H. Hill. She was born upon a farm in Valley township and has always resided in this county. except five years spent in Washington and Idaho.
In community affairs Mr. Ely has been quite active and prominent and has been called upon to fill a number of public offices. Since 1890 he has served as supervisor, ten years, frequently being elected without opposition. He attends the conventions of his party as a delegate, but his time and energies have been more largely concentrated upon his business affairs. He is a member of the Allegan post, the Masonic fraternity at Allegan, and was for a number of years a member of the Knights of Labor. He is also a member of the Grange, in the work of which he takes an active part. He has served as master of the local Grange and was master of the county, or Pomona Grange. He has also several times been a delegate to the state Grange and is one of the stockholders and a director in the Co-operative Store, which was established by the Grange. He is also a director in the Patrons' Fire Insurance Company and a stockholder in the Allegan Cream- ery. His residence in the county covers a period of more than a third of a century, during which time he has made an excellent record as a progres- sive business man and public-spirited citizen, being as loyal to the country in days of peace as when he followed the Stars and Stripes upon the battle- fields of the south. Liberal in politics and religion, he not only advocates a life of sterling worth, honesty and purity but lives it.
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
CHARLES L. BARRETT is the owner of an excellent farm pleasantly and conveniently situated about three miles from the village of Allegan. He was born August 2, 1848, in Richland township, Kalamazoo county, Michi- gan, and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of this part of the state. His paternal grandparents were Hildah and Elizabeth (Cum- mings) Barrett, natives of New York, who came to Michigan at an early epoch in its development and were soon closely identified with its farming interests. The year 1832 witnessed their arrival, at which time the state was largely a forest district, covered with a dense growth of oak, beech, ash, maple and pine trees according to locality. Hildah Barrett settled with his family in Kalamazoo county, where he and his wife spent their remaining days. In his business undertakings he prospered, becoming a wealthy man. He was also a most carnest Christian gentleman, active in support of the cause and he loaned money freely for the erection of churches, assisting in organizing and building the Presbyterian church at Richland.
Marvin Barrett. father of our subject, was born in New York and ac- companied his parents on their removal to this state in 1832. He then set- tled upon a farm in Richland township, where he died in 1882. He married Helen M. Dolson, a native of New York, who still lives in Richland town- ship. She was a daughter of John H. Dolson, a native of New York city, and one of the pioneer residents of Michigan. He was a Revolutionary soldier and served throughout the war. He was married three times and became the father of twenty-seven children. At a pioneer epoch in the history of the state he took up his abode on the present site of Battle Creek, where he passed away and was buried. Marvin Barrett also devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits. He gave his early political allegiance to the Abolition party and when the Republican party was formed to pre- vent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks. He occupied many positions of public honor and trust in his township and both lie and his wife were devoted members of the Presbyterian church. Their lives were upright and honorable and at all times Marvin Barrett was characterized by unfaltering allegiance to manly principles and high ideals. The family numbered nine children, six of whom are living, namely: Charles L., Mrs. Emma Little. James, Frank W., William E., and George M.
Charles L. Barrett supplemented his early education, acquired in the common schools, by study in the seminary at Richland, Michigan, and by study in the Northwestern University, at Evanston, Illinois. His education completed, he afterward engaged in teaching school through several winter terms, and in the summer months devoted his energies to general agricul- tural pursuits. He came to Allegan county in 1876, and for four years was engaged in merchandising at Mill Grove. He then purchased a farm in Valley township, where he has since lived and which is pleasantly located about three miles from the village of Allegan. He has here a good home and fine tract of land, which is very rich and productive, responding readily to the care and labor that he bestows upon the fields.
On the 15th of October, 1872, Mr. Barrett was married to Miss Emma Crosby, of Richland township, a daughter of Randall and Elizabeth ( Miles) Crosby, who were natives of the Empire state and early settlers of Richland township, Kalamazoo county, Michigan. Her father died on the old home- stead there, and the mother passed away in Allegan. Unto Mr. and Mrs.
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Barrett have been born ten children : Randall M., Carl H., Florence B., Hat- tie C., Margery N., Florine M., Crosby C., Mildred E., and two who died in childhood. Mr. Barrett gives his political allegiance to the Republican party and has held various official positions, serving as township clerk for four years, as county clerk for six terms and has been school director for many years. The duties of these different positions were discharged with promptness and fidelity and his political record is entirely a creditable one. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the United Workmen.
CHARLES C. CLARK, residing at Mill Grove, in Valley township, has now passed his eighty-second milestone on life's journey. having been born at Niagara Falls, New York, April 13, 1824. His has been in many respects an eventful and varied career, embracing as it does all of the experiences of pioneer life in the west. His father, Enos Clark, was a native of Massa- chusetts and a stonemason by trade. He worked on a mill in Canada for a time and afterward went to Lockport. New York. In 1839 he came to Cal- houn county, Michigan, at which time Charles C. Clark was in his sixteenth year. The family settled on a new farm and both parents died in 1843. their deaths occurring only nine weeks apart. They left eleven children, one an infant.
The children became scattered and Charles C. Clark began working in the neighborhood in order to provide for his own support. He, however. had a guardian who dirccted his labors. He worked for a time at the car- penter's trade or until his employer killed his wife and was sent to state's prison. Mr. Clark continued to reside in Calhoun county until 1853. and in the meantime he rented and bought land, which he cleared and devel- oped. He cleared about fifty acres of land in Calhoun county. He came to Allegan county in 1853, and two years later located on what is his present home. In the meantime, however, he had spent two years in hunting on the plains on the other side of the Kalamazoo river, camping at Bailey's Mill, which had been built years before and was abandoned. The district was an unbroken wilderness and he made his camp in the old mill office while engaged in hunting. He and his brother killed one hundred and fifteen deer between October and January, selling the hides for one hun- dred and thirty-five dollars to Jack Jones at Allegan. They traded venison for bread at the old Pine Plains House, which was situated on the stage road between Allegan and Saugatuck, and was the only house between the two places-a distance of twenty-five miles.
In 1855 Mr. Clark returned to Allegan county and lived with his brother-in-law. John Heath, during which time he engaged in the manufac- ture of shingles. In company with Mr. Heath and his brother. George P. Heath. he purchased, in 1856, the Wheeler mill at Mill Grove. This was a shingle mill and also contained a circular saw for the manufacture of lum- ber. It was built by Fuller & Harris. In the new enterprise the partners prospered and later Mr. Clark became a member of the firm of Clark, Heath & Company. This was operated until the war. In the meantime George Heath retired from the partnership which had been formed, and Mr. Clark and John Heath conducted the business up to the period of the outbreak of the Civil war. Prices, however, were so low that they made little money.
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They had rafted one hundred thousand feet of lumber down the Kalamazoo river to Saugatuck, where they sold it for only four dollars per thousand and thus they made little more than a living out of their undertakings. Seeing that they could not pay for the mill they gave it up to the firm of Holmes & Company, who held the mortgage. Later, however, they bought it back and continued its operation until 1862, when they sold out to Mr. Alonzo Vosburg.
The following year Mr. Clark located on his present farm at Mill Grove. He was employed, however, on the John Heath place until the time of his marriage, which was celebrated in 1863, to Miss Melissa La Bar, a young lady of twenty-two years, from Rochester, New York, becoming his wife. They began their domestic life on the farm and Mr. Clark afterward purchased more land, which he cleared from the timber and developed into productive fields. He owned and cultivated thirty acres, which he planted to peaches, which proved a very profitable crop until the yellows took the orchard. In the meantime he spent one year in Allegan, where he conducted a feed store, after which he returned to the farm. In 1869 he built his home upon his land and soon set out his peach orchard. He also engaged in raising strawberries, apples and other fruit, and later he planted a second peach orchard. For twenty years his son-in-law has operated the farm, while Mr. Clark is practically living retired. The third orchard has been set out by his son-in-law, Mr. Gardiner, and the farm is now an improved property, largely devoted to the cultivation of fruit.
In 1898 Mr. Clark was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 20th of May of that year, after they had traveled life's journey together for thirty-five years. They had but one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Alfred N. Gardiner, and who has always remained with her father because of her mother's poor health. Mr. Gardiner is a carpenter as well as a farmer, and unto this marriage three children have been born: Clark La Bar Gardiner, now eight years of age; Louis Alfred Gardiner, a youth of five years, and a son who died in infancy. Mr. Clark's home is one of the best in the vicinity, and in the evening of his life he is now very comfortably situated. In politics he is a Roosevelt Democrat, for. though he usually has supported the Democratic party, he has great admira- tion for the president and cast his last ballot in his support. His memory compasses the period of carly pioneer development in this portion of the state and he relates in most interesting manner events of frontier life in Michigan, especially concerning his camping experiences and his early mill- ing operations.
CHESHIRE TOWNSHIP.
JOHN B. GRAHAM .- The family of Graham has done an important work in the settlement and improvement of this portion of the prosperous county of Allegan and its members have ever been active in movements tending toward a betterment of conditions in the section where they have inade their homes. John B. Graham was born in Steuben county, New York, November 26. 1855, and that was his home until he was four years old. when the family moved to this locality. He was the eldest of nine children of James D. and Katherine E. (Fuller) Graham. James D. Graham was born in county Sligo, Ireland, April 8, 1830, and he came to America with
MR. AND MRS. JOHN B. GRAHAM
MR. AND MRS. JAMES D. GRAHAM
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
his parents in 1847, they locating in Canada. In 1849 he went into the state of New York and began working on his own account in a sawmill, where he was employed for eight years. He was married in 1853 to Miss Katherine Fuller, a native of Jerusalem, Yates county, New York, where she was born in 1838. They remained in New York state for six years after their mar- riage and then came to Michigan, settling upon section 13. Cheshire town- ship, Allegan county, on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, where the remainder of his life was passed and where his widow still resides. It was a very new country when he came here and there was no road leading to his farm, while all of his land was in its natural state. At one time he owned one hundred and ninety acres of land, of which he placed about one hundred acres under cultivation, placing good buildings thereon and set- ting out large orchards. In this section James D. Graham was for many years a most potent factor for good. For many years he was a deacon and trustee in the Baptist church and a faithful worker in the Sunday-school. being teacher and superintendent therein for many years. Politically he was a Republican and he held numerous local offices in the early history of Cheshire township. Besides being a school officer for more than twenty years, he was township drain commissioner for eight years and also deputy county drain commissioner under County Commissioner Wilcox. Previous to his incumbency there had been very little drainage done in this township and Mr. Graham did most effective work in this line, as well as in the lay- ing out of highways. After a long life of usefulness he passed away here May 31, 1901, leaving a widow and nine children, as follows: John B., the eldest. is the subject of this review ; George resides in Montana and James in British Columbia : Andrew is a resident of Allegan; Charles and his family live on the old homestead on section 13 with his mother: Bert is a farmer of this county : Julia is the wife of Horace Eldred. of Allegan ; Alice is the wife of Lucien F. Huntley, of Chicago: and Laura is the wife of Charles Hillman, of Allegan township.
John B. Graham, the eldest of the family, came to Michigan with his parents in 1859 and lived upon the old farm until 1896. Then he pur- chased a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres adjoining that of his father and lying on the town line between Cheshire and Trowbridge. a part of his farm being on section 13. Cheshire, and the remainder on section 19. Trowbridge township. His residence and other buildings, are, however, in Cheshire. He first took this place as wild land and the improvements have all been made by himself. It is now one of the best farms in this section. thoroughly improved and equipped with substantial buildings. In addition to general farming Mr. Graham is largely interested in Percheron horses and is one of a company of dealers in Percheron stallions. Politically he is a Republican and he is now serving his second term as highway commis- sioner of Cheshire township. He has had a long and extended experience in the building of highways and even assisted his father in building the first road by the old farm, which was a corduroy. During his two years' incumbency as highway commissioner there has been an unprecedented amount of effective work done in the way of improving the highways of the township, and last year twenty-five hundred dollars was appropriated for this purpose. He takes a deep interest in educational affairs and has been
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a school officer for a number of years. Fraternally he is affiliated with the K. O. T. M.
He was married January 6, 1896, to Mrs. Amelia Lewis, who was born in Toronto, Ontario, and came here just previous to her marriage. She is the daughter of Henry and Mary J. (Graham) Tilson, her mother being a sister of our subject's father.
Mr. Graham is a man of influence in this portion of Allegan county, an intelligent and prosperous farmer and his place shows unusual thrift and carc.
JOSEPH ANTONY TRUTSCH .- Although almost three decades have come and gone since Joseph Antony Trutsch was called from this life, he is vet remembered by many of the citizens as a man of genuine personal merit and a worthy representative of farming interests in Allegan county. Hc was born in Switzerland and died in Michigan in 1868 at the age of forty- two years. He remained a resident of the land of the Alps until about twelve or fourteen years prior to his death. He came to the United States with his sister, Mary Ann. He had not been a resident of the country for a very long period when the Civil war broke out, and he manifested his patriotism and his loyalty to his adopted country by enlisting from Allegan county and serving for three years with a regiment of volunteer infantry. He never faltered in the performance of any task assigned to him whether it called him to the lonely picket line or to the firing line.
After the war Mr. Trutsch was united in marriage on the 17th of Sep- tember. 1865, to Miss Clarissa Harriet Jackson, who was born in Bed- ford, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, February 6, 1835. When twenty-two years of age she came to Allegan county with her brother, Amos J. Jackson, a veteran of the Civil war, and since that time has resided continuously in Allegan county. She is a daughter of David and Clarissa (Ives) Jackson, who were natives of New York. She was the youngest of eleven children and by her marriage has become the mother of one daughter and one son : Edna Ann, who is now the widow of Allen Boyce, of Allegan township, and Joseph Antony, who opcrates the home farm.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Trutsch purchased what has since been known as the home farm, comprising eighty acres of woodland on section 23. Cheshire township. He at once began its development and cultivation. but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, for his death occurred three years after he made the purchase. Since that time the farm work has been carried on by Mrs. Trutsch and her son, who have erected good build- ings here and have made many modern improvements. Everything about the place is neat and attractive in appearance and the work of the agricul- turist is carried forward with good results. Mrs. Trutsch has remained continuously a resident of the county for almost a third of a century and has therefore been a witness of much of its growth and progress.
EDMUND S. ROGERS .- One of the successful farmers of Cheshire town- ship is the gentleman named above, who resides in a most comfortable and tasteful farm home on section 9. Here he has cleared his land and made all of the other improvements upon the place and here he takes great pleas- ure in life, enjoying that freedom and independence only known upon the :vell-regulated farm.
JOSEPH A. TRUTSCH
MRS. CLARISSA H. TRUTSCH
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HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY
Mr. Rogers was born in Summit county. Ohio, March 23. 1847. He was the eldest child of Justus S. and Katherine ( Shuman) Rogers, natives respectively of Vermont and New York. Justus Rogers went into Ohio with his father in a very early day and there they made their home. An iclea of the unsettled condition of the state of Ohio may be realized when we state that at the time the Rogers family went there from the east it required a search over no less than four townships to secure the services of enough men to help raise a log house, and some of these men were Indians. Justus and Katherine Rogers came into Michigan in 1856, locating in Alle- gan county, a few miles northwest of the now thriving city of Allegan. Here they made their home on a farm, where they lived nearly all the remainder of their lives. Mr. Rogers dying here at the advanced age of seventy years, his estimable wife dying at Howard City, Michigan, at the age of sixty-five. In his younger days Justus Rogers was a hunter and trapper of note and he continued along these lines long after he moved into Michigan. They were the parents of six children, the subject of this review being the eldest and the others being as follows: Henry lived in the west for a number of years and was killed while a resident of the state of Washington, in August, 1906: Lewis died at the age of twenty vears : Elnor McMartin died in Colorado: Abbie. now Mrs. Handy, is a resident of the state of Washington.
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